Machine for dressing heels of boots and shoes



UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HORATIO GUILD AND LUTHER HALL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR DRESSING HEELS OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,245, dated March 15, 1859.

T o all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, HoRA'rIo GUILD and LUTHER HALL, of Boston, in thecounty of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new orImproved Machine for Dressing or Shaping Heels of Boots or Shoes; and wedo hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented inthe following specification and the accompanying drawings, of which-Figure 1 is a top view of the said machine; Fig. 2, a front elevation ofit; Fig. 3, a rear elevation, and Fig. A, a longitudinal and verticalsection of it.

The nature of our invention consists 'in the combination of adjustableheel jaws and a pattern with a curved supporting rack and a selfadjusting knife or knife frame, the machine being intended for thepurpose not only of holding or clamping a boot or shoe, while on a last,but for giving proper shape or form to the edge of the heel with reference to the contour of the heel part of the upper leather of the saidboot or shoe. In this respect our machine differs very materially fromthat described in the United States Patent No. 18,217, and consequentlywe lay no claim to the said patented machine nor to the subject of theclaim of the patent thereof, our invention being an improved machine andcapable of trimming a heel while aro'ectino' from a boot or shoe l b 7whereas the machine of said patent is simply for forming or cuttingsoles prior to their application to boots or shoes, and contains nomeans of clamping a boot or shoe in manner as it is held by our machine.

In the drawings A represents a bed plate or frame supporting an uprightshaft B; this shaft has a handle O, on its upper end and a gear orpinion D, affixed to its lower end, the said pinion being made to engagewith a curved rack E, or rack plate formed as shown in the drawings.This rack or plate is constructed with a curved slot L, eX- tendingthrough it vertically and for the reception of one or more projectionsor pins p, which pass through it. The said pin or pins are carriedthrough a supporting washer d, and from thence pass through the slot L,into the bed, the same being so as to connect the curved rack to the bedand allow the former to be put in movement under the bed while the shaftB, is being rotated. The said curved rack carries a pair of movable jawsF, G, formed as shown in the drawings, each of them being applied to therack so as to be capable of turning on a fulcrum or pin 7, extendingfrom it and arranged as shown in Fig. 1. Each of the said jaws risesabove the upper Surface of the rack E, and has its external verticalsurface H, formed parallel to its inner vertical surface and so as tocompose the pattern or guide for a self adjusting knife frame I, to restand act against. The said knife frame carries a knife or cutter K, andslides freely on the bed plate A, between parallel guides g, g, and ispressed forward against the pattern by a spring 7L', arranged as shownin the drawings. There extends upward from the curved rack plate in aposition as shown in the drawings, a vertical shaft L, which, near itslower end or journal carries an eccentric or cam M, which has its edgeor periphery in contact with the outer edge of one of the jaws. A crankN, projecting from the upper part of the said shaft is connected withthe opposite jaw by a connection rod O. Furthermore, a lever P, projectsfrom the upper end of the said shaft as shown in the drawings, the wholebeing so as to enable a person by turningthe shaft to cause both jaws tosimultaneously approach one another in order that a boot or shoe whenplaced between them may be suitably held by them preparatory to theoperation of trimming the heel, the position of the shoe or boot undersuch circumstances being indicated by red lines at R, in the figures.After a boot or shoe may have been fixed to the curved rack by theclamping jaws its heel may be suitably formed or trimmed by turning thecrank C, so as to put the shaft B, in'revolution. This will cause therack or rack plate to be set in motion whereby the leather composing theheel will be forced against the cutting edge of the knife, which bymeans of its spring will be caused to adjust itself to the patternpreviously properly adjusted by the movable jaws.

Frein the above it will be perceived that whatever may be the width ofthe heel part of the upper -leather of a boot or shoe when on a last theclamping jaws of the machine will readily adjust themselves and thepatmade to operate substantially as hereinbefore specified.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our signatures.

HoRATio GUILD. LUTHER HALL.

, Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr.

